Emergency plumbing

Emergency Plumber in Seattle & the Puget Sound

Sewer backup, burst pipe, leaking water heater, a drain that will not clear. Call and a licensed Eco plumber is dispatched the same day as scheduling permits, with emergencies prioritized, and one upfront price before any work begins.

Call (206) 970-1031 Text Us What to do first ↓

Smell gas? CO alarm sounding? Burning smell you can't find? Leave the house first.

Get everyone to fresh air, then call 911 — and for a gas odor, your gas utility's 24-hour emergency line — from outside. Call Eco after you're safe: (206) 970-1031 . Water reaching outlets, cords, or the panel? Switch off those breakers before you step in.

What counts as a plumbing emergency

If it is on this list, call now. Every one of these gets worse with time, and the first two get worse with every flush.

Sewer or drain backup

Sewage in the lowest drain, several fixtures slow at once, gurgling when the toilet flushes. Stop running water and call — this is the main line.

Sewer line repair

Clogged drain that will not clear

Kitchen sink, tub, or floor drain standing full after the plunger and the snake. A licensed plumber clears it and looks for the cause.

Drain cleaning

Burst or leaking pipe

Water where it should not be. Close the main shutoff, open the lowest faucet, then call. Old galvanized steel usually means the patch is a symptom.

Pipe repair

Water heater leaking or no hot water

Water at the base of the tank, or cold showers. Shut the cold inlet and the power or gas first; a tank leaking from the body has failed.

Water heater repair

Sump pump quit in a storm

Water rising in the pit or the crawlspace while it rains. Outages and floods arrive together; battery backup is the fix after the emergency.

Sump pump repair

Gas smell near a water heater or range

Leave the house first. Call 911 and your gas utility's emergency line from outside, then call Eco once everyone is safe.

What to do first

What to do in the first minutes

Water damage is a race against minutes. The single most valuable thing you can do is know where your shutoffs are before you need them — every answer below starts there.

My water heater is leaking — what do I do in the first 10 minutes?

Shut off the water feeding the tank first, then the power or gas — the cold-water shutoff valve is on the pipe entering the top of the heater. A leaking tank won't fix itself, but ten calm minutes can be the difference between a service call and a flooded floor.

Turn the cold-water inlet valve (top of the tank) clockwise until it stops. If it's stuck or broken, use the home's main shutoff instead.
Electric heater: switch off its breaker. Gas heater: turn the gas control dial to OFF.
Move belongings away and towel up standing water — water heaters live in closets, garages, and basements where a slow leak spreads fast.
Look at where it's coming from: a drip at a fitting or the relief valve is often repairable; water seeping from the tank body means the tank itself has failed and replacement is the honest answer.
Call a licensed plumber either way — a leaking tank under pressure only goes one direction.

Water heater repair & replacement → Why water heater flushes protect the warranty → Repair vs. replace a water heater →

How do I shut off my home's main water — and where is it?

In most Western Washington homes the main shutoff is where the water line enters the house — commonly in the crawlspace near the front foundation wall, in the garage, or in a basement utility area. Find it on a calm day; a burst pipe is a terrible time for a scavenger hunt.

Look where the supply enters: crawlspace access near the front of the house, garage wall, or next to the water heater are the usual spots in Puget Sound homes.
A wheel handle closes clockwise (righty-tighty, several turns); a lever ball valve closes with a quarter turn so the handle sits across the pipe.
If you can't find one, or it's seized with age, there's also the city shutoff at the meter box near the street — but that valve belongs to the utility and often needs a special key.
Test yours gently once a year, and label it. If your home's main is corroded shut, have a plumber replace it before it matters.

Whole-home leak protection (automatic shutoff) → Water line repair & replacement →

A pipe burst — how do I stop the water, and then what?

Shut off the main water valve immediately — that's the one move that stops the damage — then open a couple of faucets at the lowest level to drain the pressure out of the lines.

Close the main shutoff (see above — crawlspace, garage, or basement in most local homes).
Open the lowest faucets in the house (and an outdoor spigot) to drain the remaining water away from the break.
If water reached outlets, cords, or the panel area, switch off breakers for the affected rooms before wading in.
Photograph the damage for insurance before cleanup, and move what you can to dry ground.
Call a licensed plumber for the repair — and if the burst pipe is old galvanized steel, ask whether this is a patch or a symptom of a pipe system at end of life.

Pipe repair services → Repipe vs. spot repair decision guide →

There's a sewage smell or backup in my lowest drain — why is it urgent?

The lowest drain in the house — a basement floor drain, a ground-floor tub or shower — is where a main sewer line blockage shows up first, because sewage takes the easiest exit. A backup there means the problem is in the main line, and every flush and shower upstream makes it worse.

Stop running water: no flushing, no laundry, no dishwasher until the line is clear.
Keep people and pets away from any standing sewage — it's a genuine health hazard, not just a mess.
Don't dump chemical drain cleaner into a main-line backup; it doesn't clear roots or collapsed pipe and makes the water dangerous for whoever opens the line.
Call a plumber for a camera inspection and clearing — in older Seattle and Tacoma neighborhoods, root intrusion into aging side sewers is one of the most common causes.

What causes sewer line backups? → Sewer line services →

No hot water — what are the 3 things to check before calling anyone?

Check the power or gas, the thermostat setting, and the reset button — those three checks take five minutes and solve a surprising share of no-hot-water calls without a service visit.

Power/gas: electric — is the water heater's breaker on? Gas — is the control dial on and the status light blinking normally?
Thermostat: someone may have turned it down (120°F is the standard safe setting). On electric units, press the red high-limit reset button behind the small access panel — if it clicks, you had a trip.
Recovery time: after a reset or a heavy-use evening, give the tank 30–60 minutes before judging.
If the reset trips again, the breaker won't hold, or a gas unit won't stay lit — stop there. Repeated trips mean a failing component, and gas controls are not a DIY repair.

Water heater repair & service → How long does a water heater last in the PNW? →

My pipes are frozen during a cold snap — how do I thaw them safely without making it worse?

Open the affected faucet, warm the pipe gently from the faucet end back toward the frozen section, and never use an open flame — Washington cold snaps are short, but the burst happens during the thaw, when water expands against a blocked line with nowhere to go.

Open the faucet the frozen line feeds so melting water and pressure have an exit.
Warm the suspect section (usually in the crawlspace, garage, or an exterior wall) with a hair dryer, heat lamp at a safe distance, or towels soaked in warm water — patiently, from the open faucet backward.
Never use a torch, and never leave a space heater unattended in a crawlspace.
Know where your main shutoff is before you start — if the pipe already split while frozen, water will appear the moment it thaws.
If nothing flows after a reasonable effort, or you find a bulged or cracked section, shut off the main and call a plumber rather than forcing it.

Pipe repair services → Signs your home needs a repipe →

Electrical and heating emergencies: the full what-to-do-first hub →

What happens when you call

Step 1

Tell us what is happening

A real person answers, asks what you see and where, and tells you the first thing to do while a plumber is on the way.
Step 2

A licensed plumber is dispatched

Same-day as scheduling permits, with emergencies prioritized. You get a name and an arrival window, not a four-hour guess.
Step 3

Find the cause, not just the symptom

For backups and recurring clogs that means a camera look inside the line, so the fix you approve targets what is actually wrong.
Step 4

One upfront price before any work

Written and explained before the work starts. No hourly meter, no surprise on the invoice, and every option is yours to choose.

Eco is licensed, bonded, and insured in Washington (Lic. ECOELEP765P5), family-owned in Seattle since 2012, and serves Seattle, the Eastside, Everett and Snohomish County, South King County, and Tacoma. See every area we serve.

Water where it should not be?

Shut it off if you can, then call. A licensed plumber, the same day as scheduling permits, with the price in writing before the work starts.

Call (206) 970-1031 Text Us All plumbing services

Emergency Plumber in Seattle & the Puget Sound

What counts as a plumbing emergency

Sewer or drain backup

Clogged drain that will not clear

Burst or leaking pipe

Water heater leaking or no hot water

Sump pump quit in a storm

Gas smell near a water heater or range

What to do in the first minutes

My water heater is leaking — what do I do in the first 10 minutes?

How do I shut off my home's main water — and where is it?

A pipe burst — how do I stop the water, and then what?

There's a sewage smell or backup in my lowest drain — why is it urgent?

No hot water — what are the 3 things to check before calling anyone?

My pipes are frozen during a cold snap — how do I thaw them safely without making it worse?

What happens when you call

Tell us what is happening

A licensed plumber is dispatched

Find the cause, not just the symptom

One upfront price before any work

Water where it should not be?

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